Hypnosis #11: Their Weapon in Enemy Hands
by Ctarsis
Summary: A long-lost enemy has come to find the Animorphs' most prized possession...


  
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Chapter One – Tobias

* * *

**

I soared through the air, the act effortless after so long. The thermals buoyed me up until it seemed that I could fly into space.

It's a wonderful thing, the power to morph. It brings a lot of suffering. It's a nice gift package with a war attached, after all.

But flying is the coolest thing in the world.

Puffy balls of cumulus floated above me. The world stretched out like one vast plain below me as I scanned the terrain below.

Sounds like the perfect life, doesn't it?

In some ways, it can be. How many kids don't dream about flying? Precious few. How many of them actually _get_ to fly? Still fewer.

Out of all the kids who sit in the classroom staring up at the huge blue sky above them, hardly any get to _be_ there without some huge metal machine that they call planes.

Some of them might get to go up in gliders. Or sky dive. Or whatever.

But how many get to roam free? How many, out of the giant human population?

Well, if you want an exact answer, five human kids do.

Or maybe four.

Depending on which I am.

My name is Tobias.

A lot of people look at the name "Tobias" and think "human." Don't make that mistake.

See, it isn't _really_ the perfect life. It might be if flying was an option. But it isn't.

It's my life.

Literally.

And now, it was morning.

I had to go kill.

Ominous words, aren't they?

No, I'm not a serial killer. No, I don't go shoot up places.

But I have to eat.

And I am a hawk.

I spotted it just below me. The innocent little mouse that would look perfect on a Christmas card.

I dived.

And just then, something caught my eyes. A human?

I flailed in the air, distracted, off-course. I faintly saw the mouse scurry away, almost as panicked as I was.

I tried to wheel around. But, as experienced as I am, I was still out of control.

Out of control!

Whumpfff!

I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me.

I looked up and saw them, the few feathers stuck in the tree I'd slammed into.

Red-tailed hawk feathers.

My feathers.

I lost consciousness.

**

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

**

The hawk, lying unconscious, did not see the human walk up.

"Ah," he said quietly. He bent down to put something on the bird's feathers. "Alive. Good."

He'd seen the hawk flying with an eagle, two ospreys, and a peregrine. And he'd recognized it. Vaguely.

If this was one of them, he'd have his way out. His way back to his kind. His way out of the sick way that he lived, that he ate.

He smiled cruelly down at the hawk's crumpled body. If it was one of them, it would simply –

"Hey!"

He snapped his head up to see a girl with her hands on her hips, glaring angrily. Her eyes flashed. "Get away from that hawk. What did you do, shoot it down –"

"Who are you?" he said, almost calmly. He raised his weapon and pointed it directly at her.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the strange type of gun that he held.

For someone who knew what it was, there was simply no mistaking it.

"Yeerk!"

He fumbled with the Dracon beam, startled.

She moved quickly towards the hawk and lifted its limp body into her arms. Alive. She cocked her head, not knowing why a Controller with a Dracon beam would leave an animal, any animal, alive.

He had turned the weapon on her again. But it wavered.

So he couldn't shoot, she reasoned. He didn't want to hit it, whatever it was.

Of course! If it was an Andalite bandit, it would be useful as a host body. He would want it to demorph, or...or simply turn it into his visser.

She shook her head, not wanting to jump to conclusions. But it did seem obvious as to what his motives would be.

However, if there was one thing she'd learned, it was _never_ to rely on the obvious in this war.

He scowled, not pleased at all with her interruption into his perfect plan.

A new thought occurred. Could she be one of them? Or at least, one of their allies?

Did she fight on the same side as the bird?

The Dracon beam wavered again, then steadied as he set the power to minimum. Better to stun her, just to be safe. At the very least, she'd be a new host body. And the empire always looked for new ways to expand.

It was a face-off. She had picked up the hawk, and she had what he wanted. If she killed it or found the device he'd implanted..._especially_ if she did fight on its side...

He shook his head. He would have thought she was just another save-the-animals person if she hadn't known what he was. So he kept the Dracon beam trained on her as she stood calmly.

So she'd figured out that he wouldn't kill her.

_There are worse things,_ he laughed silently.

He felt inside his pocket with his free hand. Yes. Both tracking devices were there. He suddenly comprehended the idiocy of bringing them – _both_ of them, no less! – on this "mission." He snorted derisively to himself. As though it was a mission.

As though the other Yeerks even knew about it.

_If they did, the visser would certainly try to grab the glory for himself,_ he thought bitterly.

"So?" she said impatiently. "Are you firing or not, Yeerk? I don't have all day to stand here."

"What are you?"

"A human," she said innocently. Too innocently. And the laughter in her eyes was starting to ignite suspicion.

"Human?" he said carefully. "Or human _morph_?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do. After all, you know what I am. You must know more than you want me to _think_ you know. So tell me this. How did you know I would be here?"

"I have my sources."

She laughed silently. He didn't need to know that it had been a chance meeting. Let him think that she knew what he was, knew all about his mission, whatever it was. Let him think that she knew all his plans.

The truth was that she had no clue.

"Tell me. Now."

The Dracon beam _was_ intimidating, she had to admit that much. But she wasn't one to give in easily.

"Why?" she said with all the playful innocence of a child who's admitted too much and now wants to frustrate the person into giving up on his or her questions.

The man did not seem to find it amusing. "Because if you don't," he said, thumbing it up to maximum, "I'll blow you into individual particles."

To some, that might have sounded like a logical argument. To her, it was a challenge.

So she laughed.

"You see that leaf right there?" he said, angered by either her mockery or her disbelief in his skills. He saw her glance towards a tiny sprout not three feet from her ankle.

He fired.

The diminutive leaf disappeared. She looked up, obviously impressed.

He smiled arrogantly. "I have excellent aim."

"Care to give me a test with it?"

He laughed. Laughed and laughed and finally said, calmly, no trace of mirth whatsoever, "I'm not that much of a fool."

"It was worth a try," she said with a smirk.

He glared. "What is your name?"

"I have no reason to tell you that. Yours?"

"Likewise. Release the bird," he said, abruptly changing the subject.

"Why? So you can kill it?"

"Me? Murder a poor, innocent hawk?"

He seemed to find that funny.

She did not. "I'm not an idiot. You are a Yeerk. You want something with this bird, and I have an idea as to what." It was not a lie. She had several possibilities, but none of them made much sense. The fact that he had not killed the hawk seemed to terminate most of them.

All except the fact that it would be useful as a host body or a victim of torture.

"I know that you at least think it's an Andalite bandit," she said, continuing. "So why would I have a motive to give it to you?"

Suddenly the hawk's eyes flew open. It let out a loud screech and then began to flap its wings hard.

"Ah!"

A long stream of blood spouted from where its killing beak had sliced her arm. It struggled more.

It suddenly went still, seeing the man.

"Yes, Andalite, you remember me, don't you?"

It seemed unsure. Unsure as to whether to fight to be freed or merely remain motionless.

She pushed the hawk away. It took to the air quickly, flapping high.

She expected the man to look infuriated. But he just smiled.

"And now," he said calmly, "I will track it. Track it until I find them all."

He grabbed something out of his pocket and began to enter a code.

"HEY!"

She couldn't believe that he'd fallen for it, but he had. He looked up, startled, and dropped the device.

She grabbed it in an instant and held it up.

"Fire that Dracon beam and I'll make sure this is destroyed."

He paused. He had another one in his pocket. He could use that. But if someone else had the other one...he wasn't worried about destroying it. He was worried about her keeping it.

GROOOOOOOOOOOOWAAAAAAAR!

The white tiger leaped!

"Ah!"

TSEEEEEWWWW!

The girl dropped. In his haste, he'd hit her instead of the predatory cat that, now enraged, turned on him.

He turned and ran.

**

* * *

Chapter Three – Phillip

* * *

**

[Cat!]

The guy, whoever he was, had run away. Now I was just worried about how high his Dracon beam had been set.

She stood up calmly. "His aim isn't as good as he thinks it is," she commented.

[What _was_ that about?] I demanded, demorphing.

I should back up.

Cat and I are morph-capable humans. We don't know how.

Both of us have lost our memories. The strange thing is, we lost them the same day. Same hour. Same minute, actually. And both of us have the same memory of _how_ the amnesia happened: falling off a horse.

So, we figure there has to be some other force out there. Some force that has it in for us. Or had it in.

Frankly, we really don't know much about this.

All we know about Yeerks is taken from the flashes of memory that both of us have occasionally. Oh, that and the fact that I was a Controller.

It's not fun.

I saved Cat from life as a Controller, she owed me (as she puts it), so she went back after she discovered that she had the morphing power as well.

The Yeerk that had controlled me escaped.

He still haunted my dreams sometimes. Of course, it had only been a week. But during that week...

Nightmares. Horrible nightmares. Nightmares where Chazil 324 was back. Where, this time, there was no escape.

Cat didn't know that. She didn't need to.

She shrugged in response to my question. "I still have his device," she said, examining it critically. "I think it's a homing device of some sort. The thing that it's tracking would be on the hawk." She looked up. "Definitely Yeerk technology."

I nodded as the white tiger's teeth shrank back into my mouth. "Hawk?"

"Yeah. He thinks it was one of the Andalite bandits. I don't know what he did to capture it, but it's gone." She regarded the device. "If this can track him, we could find the Andalites. We could find the allies."

Her eyes shone, then dimmed. "We can handle it ourselves," she muttered.

I snorted. "Yeah, two human kids can handle the entire Yeerk empire."

She glared at me. "I don't _need_ help."

I like the girl, sure, but she's one of the most arrogant people that I've ever met.

A similarity between us.

"You'll think that until you're captured," I said bluntly. "I thought it for a while, too –"

"Yes, well, I won't mess up like that."

I stared at her, shocked. "Excuse me? Martha, Marie, whatever her name was –"

"Marcia."

"Yes, her. She had those Hork-Bajir dragging you down into the Yeerk pool before you knew _what_ was going on."

"Exactly. I didn't know what they were. I'm prepared now."

I sighed, half in disgust, half in admiration. Very little scares my friend Cat.

Very little.

But she hadn't gone through the hell on earth that I had.

"You looked reasonably unprepared," I said flatly.

"I _had_ his homing device. I freed the hawk. And I would have gotten out of it," she added, with a little toss of her head.

"Before or after he stunned you and dragged you down to the Yeerk pool?"

"You're making reference to something that would _not_ have happened and therefore would not have events before or after it." She glanced in the direction in which he'd gone. "Who was he, anyway?"

"Like I know? Wait. Let me see that device."

She tossed it to me casually.

I caught it and examined it. "No identification."

"What did you expect? His Yeerk ID on it? His driver's license? His Social Security number?"

I ignored that. "We should find the hawk. Find what he knows. Try to find the others."

"Yeah, and then they'll treat us like inferiors," she snapped. "Holier-than-thou Andalites."

She seemed, in that moment, to have a hatred of Andalites inbred in her. I glanced at her, surprised.

Her expression went blank, then cleared. "Sorry. Another flashback."

"What was it?"

"A battle. I've had ones like it before." She shrugged. "In it, it's like the Andalites are the enemy. They're _not_ psychic visions, I know that much, they're memory. Interesting memories." She made a small smile. "I must have had an interesting life."

There was one very important thing I hadn't told her.

The first was that I seemed to remember a creature like the one she described. They called them Xaralites. Chazil had seen it in my memory and so had I, but neither of us had seen anything more.

I remembered someone. A Xaralite female.

The strange thing was, in my memories, I was not a Xaralite. Or a human.

I had memories, flashbacks, of _Andalites._

Judging by what she'd told me of her remembrances of that species, I did not think it was wise to tell her about my own.

One thing that occurred to me was that if I had secrets, things I did not tell her, she would have infinite amounts of secrets herself.

She's a very secretive. You can see that in her eyes. Something that tells you that, no matter how much she reveals, she has a hundred times that amount of things that she conceals.

I examined the device more closely. There was a keypad, but it was not written in symbols I remembered as a human.

Maybe, in time, I'd remember them. Maybe I _had_ known then.

Maybe not.

I made a small half-smile. "We have to figure this thing out."

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Would this be rigged to communicate with another homing device?" she wondered.

I glanced at her, interested.

"There was something else in his pocket. It looked the same," she explained. "If that was the same thing, they'd be programmed to communicate."

I nodded slowly. That made sense.

Then the light went off in my head. "So it could be reprogrammed to _track_ the other one!"

"Exactly!" She looked pleased. "We could not only find the Andalites, but also be able to track this Controller. And he'd never see it coming. After all," she scoffed, "we're just human kids."

"Or Andalite kids," I muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

She looked confused a moment, then shrugged. "Anyway. Do you think you can do it," with a superior smile, "or do I have to?"

"Excuse me?" I demanded.

She smiled sweetly.

We're competitive. What can I say?

"I'm doing it."

"I could do it better," she grumbled.

"Right."

"Anyway," she said, abruptly changing the subject, "this Controller, whoever he was, would have wanted the hawk to get away so he could track it."

"Then maybe you didn't exactly 'free' the hawk. Maybe you played right into his trap."

She sent me a look of disgust. "You would have done the same thing."

I raised an eyebrow.

"_Anyway_," she said in annoyance, "this means he has some sort of a plan to –"

"Never would have guessed."

She glared. "– to find them sometime soon, and they have no clue."

"So?" I said, half-playfully, "I thought you could handle it yourself, without them...?"

"Doesn't mean I want them captured."

I didn't tell her what I thought. That we had to find these Andalites, because maybe they would have the answers about who we were.

Or maybe if this force was powerful enough to erase our own memories, it would be strong enough to erase memories of us.

**

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Chapter Four – Cassie

* * *

**

"There."

I scraped a little more dirt over the hole and stood up.

Tobias and I had to rehide the box. The main reason being that we were worried about the Yeerks tracking it – straight to my house. If they found out that I had it, or worse yet, if I knew what it was, they'd have me and my parents infested and that would be it for the Animorphs.

It was Marco's idea. He's good at seeing to the issues. Plus, he's paranoid.

His motto seems to be, "Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me."

And he's right, really.

Because they _are_ out to get us.

They are the Yeerks.

And they're searching for us everywhere that an Andalite bandit could hide.

Now, right about now you're thinking, _Wait, Andalite bandit?_

That's our advantage. They don't know who we are _or_ what species we are.

The only other thing we have going for us is the fact that we met an Andalite war-prince named Elfangor who gave us the power to morph.

That's a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. I certainly don't enjoy the war, but it's necessary. So I guess overall it's a good thing.

Maybe.

[It's not too evident from the air, even with these eyes,] Tobias said. [I can see it if I'm looking for it. But no one in the air could.]

We'd dug a hole by the roots of a hollow tree – or, more accurately, _I'd_ dug it (as a wolf) – and then covered it back up.

Tobias was the lookout.

We'd been careful not to leave anything marking the hole. Nothing that would give the Yeerks even the slightest clue what could be there.

I moved aside and Tobias hopped over to inspect it. [Good,] he said. [Unless they're _looking_ for holes and check under this specific tree – which, in this forest, isn't likely to happen – it's foolproof.]

"Excellent," I said brusquely. "Now all we have to do is remember where it is, huh?" I laughed quietly. "Of course, better for us to lose it than for them to find it."

[Yeah,] he agreed. [But we don't want to, Cass.]

"I know that," I said, irked. "So what are we supposed to do? We can't put anything here to mark it."

He looked frustrated. [I could probably find it if I was looking for it, anyway.]

He flapped his wings and took to the air.

When he took off, I could have sworn that something fell off his feathers. I peered down to stare at the hole, now covered over by dirt.

I didn't seen anything. Not even a glint of the sun on anything metallic.

[Cassie, what is it?]

"Nothing," I said finally, after a slight pause. I shook my head. "Marco's paranoia is wearing off on me, I guess."

He wheeled around and looked with his own hawk eyes. [I don't see anything.]

I felt relieved. After all, if Tobias didn't see it, it wasn't there.

* * *

The next day, we had a meeting. Erek told Marco it was urgent.

That should have set off more alarms in my head. Erek, saying something was _urgent_, the day after we'd rehidden the box? Erek, who _knew_ that we'd just rehidden the box?

But I suppose Marco's paranoia hadn't taken as much of a hold as I'd thought.

"Hey, Erek," Jake said as he came in. "Just waiting on Tobias."

[I'm here,] the hawk said as he swept in.

"The Yeerks are excited about something," Erek said. "Something to do with Joe Bob Fenestre. He's found something the visser wants." He turned his eyes on me. "Found it this morning. _In the woods_."

[The box,] Tobias half-whispered.

I stared in horror. Then I turned and ran.

Ran, ran, ran to where we'd hidden the box.

I dropped to my knees.

My heart beat faster as I peered into the narrow opening.

Then it stopped.

The box was gone.

**

* * *

Chapter Five – Marco

* * *

**

We followed Cassie. I felt like I was losing my mind, going out of control, when I saw her shocked face.

She stood up slowly.

It was over. The Yeerks had the blue box. Fenestre would give it to the visser, he would snap, we were done for.

Anger boiled up inside me.

"It's not there, is it," Rachel said. It wasn't a question. Cassie shook her head anyway.

I exploded.

"WHY IN THE WORLD OR OUT OF IT DID YOU NOT HIDE IT SOMEPLACE SAFE?!"

"We...we thought it _was_ safe," she faltered. Her embarrassment fueled my angry shouts.

"OBVIOUSLY IT WASN'T, YOU.. you.."

"Marco, that's enough," Jake said angrily. "She knows she screwed up --"

"Duh, Jake, EVERYONE knows she screwed up!"

I got in his face. Hard to do, he's quite a bit taller than me, but I was furious. Not to mention scared.

"She made a mistake, we all --"

I sighed in disgust. "Making excuses for your girlfriend?"

I could see Cassie crying out of the corner of my eye. Tobias, circling overhead. Rachel, looking mad enough to punch me. Jake, looking worried.

[We lost it, Marco,] Tobias said bluntly. [Now we have to get it back, screaming won't fix anything.]

I had nothing to say to that.

Jake cocked an eye at Erek, who'd followed but hadn't taken sides in the argument. "The visser _wants_ it? Meaning Fenestre hasn't given it to him yet?"

"Yes, I believe so," Erek said quietly. "However, they seem to be in the process of working out a bargain."

"A bargain?" Rachel demanded.

"Yes." Erek looked around at each of us. "Fenestre gets Kandrona rays if the visser gets the box."

"He won't go through with it," Cassie said flatly.

"He's just dumb enough to fall for it!" I raged.

"Marco's right. Fenestre may fall for it, we can't take that chance," Jake said flatly. "We have to stop him."

_Of course, we wouldn't HAVE to find it if CERTAIN PEOPLE weren't so careless,_ I thought but didn't say.

"So we'd have to go find it," Rachel said.

She had that evil gleam in her eye.

I swear that girl enjoys that...place.

Or maybe she just feels like she has to make the rest of us think she does.

"We are NOT going down to the Yeerk pool," I said, glaring at her, knowing that we would.

"Maybe not," Jake agreed. "We could just be able to find Fenestre, get it from him."

"Darn."

Three guesses who _that_ was.

I couldn't believe it. If me, or Rachel, or even Jake had messed up this bad, they'd all STILL be exploding. But no, it was _Cassie_ so everyone felt like they had to be sensitive.

I glared at her. It was her fault, hers and Tobias's. But of course the other Animorphs didn't want to explode – Rachel because she was Cassie's best friend, Jake because, well, that much was obvious. Tobias because it was equally his fault.

I didn't have any such feelings.

It sickened me, how they were just letting it go.

I'm not exactly a forgiving person. Cassie would have been. Tobias would have been, probably.

But not me.

As we left, I turned slightly. "Next time, do a better job," I snapped.

I immediately felt ashamed. It's hard not to feel ashamed, blowing up at Cassie.

Maybe that was why everyone was being so quiet.

**

* * *

Chapter Six – Jake

* * *

**

WHAM!

Marco slammed the door through the doorframe.

We weren't exactly going for the subtle approach.

"Yah!"

[Hello, Yeerk,] I said calmly.

I'd promised him protection in his mansion.

His _old_ mansion.

He'd built a new one. But I hadn't bound myself to any promises here.

[We want the box.]

"You aren't getting it."

I heard an angry growl from behind me. I didn't have to look to know that it was Rachel.

[Oh, I think we are,] she said, drawing herself up to her full height. She strode calmly over. [You see, we are morphed Andalites, and each of these forms would be able to destroy you. Give us the box.]

"Destroy me? I think not." He revealed a Dracon beam that had been pointed at me the whole time. "One move, Andalites, and he dies."

[You think you scare me, Yeerk?] I said harshly. I shifted my weight on my paws and noticed his grip on the Dracon beam tighten. [You think you can defeat the five of us merely by threats?]

"Actually, yes." He turned slightly and vaporized a pen that had fallen from his desk. He turned back to us. "I have impeccable aim. Do not think that I will miss."

[You can't possibly hit all five of us before we kill you,] Marco said. I could see him getting ready to charge. Fenestre, I hoped, could not.

"I'll kill most of you, at least. I doubt any of you want to trade your life for the life of one single misfit Yeerk."

[We. Want. That. Box.] Rachel let loose a roar as she spoke that seemed to rattle the windows and definitely scared Fenestre.

Scared him into firing, in fact.

TSEEEEEEEEWW!

[Ah!]

Rachel's left paw vaporized.

"Don't try to attack _me_."

[You think that we have survived this long only to be destroyed by one single _human__Controller?] I snapped.

With one motion, I leaped.

He fired.

Too late! It blew a hole through the ceiling but missed me as I knocked him to the ground.

I bared my teeth, inches from his face.

"Life for a life, Andalite? I'm honored if you truly believe my own life more valuable than your own."

With that, he fired his weapon again.

I fell back.

Then I lost consciousness.

**

* * *

Chapter Seven – Cassie

* * *

**

[Jake!]

He collapsed. A neat hole was visible through his side.

Visible, at least, for a few moments. Then blood started pumping out to stain the white carpet.

[Marco! Get Jake!] Rachel yelled, taking over as she charged Fenestre.

He fired the Dracon beam and her right paw vaporized.

[We're dead!] Marco half-yelled.

Fenestre pressed the Dracon beam to Jake's head before Marco could reach him.

"You come near me, he dies. Got it?"

[No, Yeerk, we don't,] I said bravely. [We want that box.]

I saw the others staring at me in amazement. I guess they expected me to scream about Jake. But we had bigger problems and besides, no matter what we did, he could die.

Better to go down fighting.

So I bared my teeth and snarled.

It worked!

Any human would be startled by a wolf's harsh growl. Fenestre, Yeerk though he was, still leaped back before he could overcome the human instincts.

But he still had the Dracon beam.

I stood in front of Jake, blocking his limp body with mine.

[Jake, wake up!]

He moaned, then passed out again.

Fenestre surveyed us calmly. "Well, well, well."

Suddenly my eyes widened.

A black cat was creeping in from behind the other door.

And I don't mean a small cat. I mean a panther.

Behind it, a white tiger.

I tensed. Fenestre tightened his grip on the Dracon beam.

"Don't try anything, Andalite," he warned. "I'll fry you and all your comrades."

I drew my lips back in a sneer.

[Hello,] the panther said quietly.

Fenestre's eyes went wide. He whirled around just as it leaped.

GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWAR!

The white tiger let loose a furious roar. He reared up on his back paws and slammed his upper body down on the Dracon beam Fenestre had released.

Marco moved for it. The white tiger roared again.

[Don't touch it.]

[If you are Andalites, we are your allies,] I said, trying to pacify the tiger.

The panther had Fenestre pinned to the ground. The white tiger had the weapon.

Were we hostages again?

[Who are you?] the panther demanded.

[That is not for you to know,] Rachel snapped.

[Rachel, play along,] I cautioned. [We're not in a position to negotiate here.]

[I don't surrender!] She charged the panther.

[WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!] Marco ranted.

The panther dodged. Rachel trampled Fenestre as he groaned in pain.

GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWAR!

The white tiger hit Rachel hard. [Don't mess with us.]

[Don't mess with _me_.] Rachel swung her massive paw and knocked the white tiger back.

I moaned silently. This was stupid. She was starting a fight with possible allies who had, quite frankly, just saved us.

I leaped between them. I immediately saw the ludicrousness of that idea – my being there might stop _Rachel,_ but not the other one.

However, he hesitated.

[Uhhhh...]

[Jake!]

Four thought-speak voices yelled the same name as the tiger stumbled to his feet.

[Whoa...what the...who are _they_?]

[Excellent question,] Marco said tersely.

Jake half-limped forward, then fell. [I have to demorph.]

[Go,] Tobias said. [We'll cover you.]

[No choice,] he admitted. He started to drag himself away.

[Don't move,] the panther said quickly, whirling around in front of him, blocking his path.

[He's injured,] the white tiger said.

[And what? He will demorph and we will have more to contend with, will we not?]

My heart raced. They sounded like Andalites.

If those were Andalites...had they landed?

[True.] The white tiger sized us up cautiously. There were five of us, after all. But one was injured and one was a bird.

A bird!

Had they seen him?

Of course they'd sense him, they had excellent senses. But...but were they focused on him?

No. No. Tobias couldn't try it. Jake still wouldn't have enough time to get out.

[You.] The panther looked at Jake. [Go. Demorph. But if you're not back in here, we'll find you,] she added menacingly.

Jake nodded his tiger head.

[What?!] Rachel roared. [You're giving –]

[No, Rachel, of course not,] Jake said patiently. [I'll go and remorph. Rhino morph or something more dangerous. Something they can't control.]

[He can't keep losing blood like this,] I added. [And there's no other way to get out.]

Jake dragged himself toward the door. The panther watched him.

"Don't move."

I whirled to see Fenestre, once again in possession of the Dracon beam.

It connected in my mind. Rachel had gotten the panther away from him and then turned back, and he'd gotten up when no one was looking.

The panther roared.

"Don't even breathe," he added, unflinching.

TSEEEEEEEEEERRRR!

Before he could even react, Tobias was moving down towards him, his intimidating hawk shriek issued by instinct.

[Idiot!] the white tiger yelled.

And he was right, because Fenestre was swinging it around to vaporize him already.

Marco swung his huge fist and barely missed Fenestre's face as he dodged.

It had thrown everyone off-balance.

Jake suddenly appeared in the doorway. The white tiger and the panther stared at his massive rhino morph.

Rachel charged them.

[Traitors!]

She laughed. Laughed harshly.

That laugh shocked me. Couldn't be Rachel's, couldn't be my best friend's laugh.

[Die,] she said, all laughter gone.

[Not just yet.]

They dodged easily and swung back around to claw her. She roared in rage, not beaten yet, but they were through with her and were already diving for the rhino.

They were too fast for him.

TSEEEEEEEEEEWWW!

GrrrrrRRRRrrrrrrrr.

Fenestre hesitated. I saw him shake with fear as the white tiger turned back to face him.

GrrrrrrrrROOWWWWWWWWrrrrOOWWWrrrrOOOOOWWW!

TSEEEEEEEEEEWWW!

He dodged. Dodged and rolled away.

And then I saw what had the white tiger so angry.

The panther lay, unconscious.

Part of my brain registered that he'd taken the power down to minimum – most likely so he could capture us for infestation. The other part of my brain registered that now the white tiger was mad enough to ignore the Dracon beam and if he could distract Fenestre...

The same thing must have occurred to Jake.

[Tobias! The box! Try and find it!]

He swooped up and left the room.

"Come back here!" Fenestre yelled, obviously not too distracted. He raised his weapon to fire at Tobias's retreating form.

Rachel and I roared at the same time and Tobias made it out before Fenestre could recover.

The white tiger paused, nuzzling the panther's limp form. It did not move.

GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWAR!

Fenestre fired!

TSEEEEEEEEEWWW!

Marco fell!

Fired!

TSEEEEEEEEEWWW!

Missed me by a hair.

[Go!] Jake yelled. [Just get out of here!]

[Tobias! He's still in there!] Rachel cried.

[GO!]

[Jake, we can't –] I started to say.

[It's a lost fight, Cassie, go!]

I leaped through a window and ran. Ran and ran, relieved, and feeling like the coward to end all cowards.

[This isn't right!] Rachel screamed. [We should be back there!]

[WHY?] I demanded, angry at everyone. [So you can fight it out back at the battle? So you can kill someone?]

[Cassie...] she whispered, shocked.

I should have felt remorse but I didn't. [Wait. Where's Jake?!]

And from within the broken window I heard the sound of a Dracon beam.

And a dull thump as something or someone fell.

**

* * *

Chapter Eight – Tobias

* * *

**

I swooped through the rooms, searching for the blue box.

This was crazy. We had no clue where it could be, I hadn't come near finding it, and if I didn't then this was pointless.

_Think, Tobias, think!_ I screamed at myself.

Where would it be?

Things were beginning to click in my mind. I slowed my maddened flight to try to connect the pictures of the puzzle forming in my brain.

We'd gotten in too easy. Way, _way_ too easy. Nothing like the last time. Nothing like how Rachel and Ax had been captured.

The guards. There weren't any – or at least not as many. No problem for us.

He must have talked to his old guards about how we got into his mansion. He knew what we'd done before. He should have had guards everywhere, on high alert...

_Fenestre should have known that,_ I thought. _He should have known we'd come for it. He should have known..._

How could I have been so stupid?!

How could all of us have been so blind?

Fenestre _knew_ we were coming! This whole stupid thing was a trap! It wasn't about the blue box, it was about a bargaining chip and capturing _us_!

Where would he have the box?

More questions flooded my brain. How had the panther and the white tiger – how had they known to come? Why were they there?

Were they Andalites?

We didn't know anything about them –

My heart stopped.

No. No. No.

There was only one reason for them to be there.

The Yeerks had the box.

The Yeerks had the capability to create new morph-capable beings.

It was the only explanation! Why else had they appeared?!

I wanted to scream in frustration. Who knew if Fenestre even had the box? Who knew if the entire thing was a facade and he'd already given it to Visser Three?

What kind of twisted bargain did they have?

It was all about Kandrona rays, for Esplin 9466 the lesser. For Visser Three, it was all about a promotion.

And for the two Controllers who posed as Andalites? Probably their motives were the same as Visser Three's.

Had the others figured it out yet?

I wheeled around quickly, soaring and flapping and doing everything in my power to return to the fight.

[Give it to us,] the panther said. [Give it to us NOW!]

Fenestre flinched despite himself.

Where were the others?

I looked down.

Looked down and saw the fallen bodies of Marco and Jake.

Stared at Fenestre's Dracon beam.

Rachel.

I dived.

**

* * *

Chapter Nine – Cat

* * *

**

The bird dived straight for Fenestre. I shifted my weight, keeping the man's attention on me.

[I want that box,] I growled menacingly.

I hadn't even finished my sentence when it hit him.

"AAAAARGGGH!"

The Dracon fell to the ground. I lunged for it and grabbed it.

[Go! Now!] Phillip hollered in my head.

[WHAT?! We don't have it yet!]

[It won't do any good if we die!]

[RETREAT?!]

[Yes, Cat, retreat.]

[I _don't_ retreat. And who made _you_ the leader?] I challenged.

[No one. However, apparently you don't have enough sense to –]

The bird wheeled in mid-air, dived, and hit him.

[Arrrrgh!]

[Where are the other Andalites?] it demanded in our heads.

[What concern is it of yours?]

[They are my comrades.]

I detected a hesitance in his voice as he chose his worlds carefully. Why?

_Andalites never paused to do that,_ I thought bitterly.

[The wolf and the bear left,] I said, edging closer. [As you can see, the other two are...incapacitated.]

[Yes, I can see that.]

Suddenly I felt myself being hurled through the air. I landed with a painful cry and rolled to see the rhino, standing triumphantly over me.

He lowered his horn.

I leaped back, only to discover that one leg was severely injured.

TSEEEEEEEEEEW!

The bird fell!

[Now!] I yelled.

Before Phillip could comment on my sudden change of heart, I was out the window, stumbling as I leaped.

With the hawk clamped in my jaws.

I'd get to the bottom of this.

Fenestre had a homing device implanted on it. It was probably an Andalite bandit.

And I had a hostage.

Suddenly it began to struggle. Apparently the human had only hit it with a glancing blow.

A long gash appeared down my face.

I roared.

GROOOOOOOwwwwoowwwOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWAAARRR!

It flapped its way up into the air, already wheeling to head back to the mansion.

[That was pointless,] I said angrily.

_Failure. Failed again. Failed my people..._

I jerked at the thought in my head. Failed my _people_...?

What?

[Split up, go home,] I said aloud.

[It will only be so long until they find us,] he reminded me. I could hear the edginess in his voice.

See, he's been a Controller.

I shrugged a panther shrug. [Then we morph and leave. Besides, what other options do we have?]

[True.]

I stared back at the mansion.

[I am _getting_ that box,] I muttered.

I wouldn't fail again.

Whatever that meant.

**

* * *

Chapter Ten – Cat

* * *

**

I crept into my house almost silently.

Unfortunately for me, my parents were in the living room.

"Where were you?" Mom asked.

I shrugged. I was not in the mood for questions.

"Where were you?" she repeated.

"Out with my friends."

"You don't _have_ friends, Cat," she shot back.

I almost gaped. I turned slowly to face her, shocked at her harsh words.

I'm not ashamed of my lonerish-ness. But I'm also not used to Mom rubbing it in my face.

"Yeah, you're right," I said sarcastically. "So maybe I was just out."

"Where were you?" Dad asked angrily. "Give me a straight answer, Katharine."

I met his eyes slowly, suspiciously.

My little brother glared at me. "Yeah, Katharine, answer," he jeered.

Then it hit me.

_Controllers!_

My family – all Controllers!

"I was out with Phillip," I said, edging back for the door.

He was right, they'd come for us, finally. I saw it in their eyes. The colored spheres containing such anger, such deception.

Such Yeerks.

"Out with a guy?" Mom – or whatever her Yeerk name was – answered. She stood up. "Were you really."

It wasn't a question.

"Yeah..."

My hand was on the doorknob when the door exploded inward.

I whirled around to see a Hork-Bajir.

Sending Hork-Bajir out! In the community! Even startled, the more logically-inclined part of me comprehended that the Yeerks wanted us bad.

Couldn't take them on.

Had to try.

Then I remembered that if they got me, I'd be signing Phillip's death warrant.

Forget fighting.

I whirled back around and ran as fast as I could.

Their footsteps sounded behind me.

Have you ever been locked in a race like that? Running through your own house, heart pounding, darkness outside, no witnesses? No one to run to?

Nothing to do?

I felt their breath on my skin. They were that close.

My muscles strained to run faster. Adrenalin flowed through my body.

And I felt guilt.

They'd gotten my parents. My little brother.

Or not mine, if my memories belonged to someone else. Okay, so they'd gotten someone else's parents and little brother.

I still felt guilty.

The back door was locked. The deadbolt was drawn.

I had nowhere to go.

I concentrated.

I felt the changes begin.

"Hah!" one of the Hork-Bajir said in a guttural voice. He grabbed me by the neck and spun me around, choking me with his strong grasp.

Didn't matter. Fangs were already growing inside my mouth.

A black wave began to spread over my body. I broke my concentration.

Had to save that for last.

I resumed concentration, focusing harder this time.

My fingernails grew into claws, curved and sharp. They turned black and hard.

These were nails that could slice a gash on a tree and not break.

I'd have to send the secret to that Hard-as-Nails company.

My iris thinned, turning a bright green.

My legs and arms thickened with muscles.

Now I let the fur come.

GROOOOOOOOOWwwowwwwwwwwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

The Hork-Bajir, startled, let go of me.

I fell to all-fours, the last change complete.

"So we were right," 'Mom' said. "This is a morph-capable –"

GROOOOOOOOOOOwwwwwWWWWWAAR!

She stopped talking.

I leaped onto the Hork-Bajir and knocked him flat on the ground. I struck him hard on the head, not wanting to kill him but not especially wanting to be chased either.

It worked. He was out cold.

I dived for the next one. He grabbed me by the ruff of my neck, ignoring my weak slashes.

Or not so weak.

When I hit him, he seemed to think it would be a good idea to drop me.

Only two Hork-Bajir? Was that all?

I mentally filed it away as an insult as I sped out the front door. Or what _used_ to be the front door.

They gave chase.

I ran. Ran into the forest, just wanting to escape, to get out of there...

Fortunately, our house isn't too far from the forest. I was there in a matter of minutes – whether that is due more to the speed of the panther or the location of the house, I cannot say.

The Hork-Bajir's speed was no match for the panther's. They were far behind me now.

I began to demorph even as I ran.

Then I fell to the carpet of pine needles below me.

I dropped my head in my hands and fought back tears.

Failure. Failure. Failure.

Should have found some way to save them. Should have found some way to keep them from being infested.

Should have gotten the blue box. Should have beaten Fenestre and the Andalites.

Shouldn't have lost my memories in the first place.

I knew enough from the flashbacks to know that I'd been powerful. Something like a cat, only a biped. A creature walking upright, like a human.

And someone or something had erased my memories.

It wasn't fair! I shouldn't be like this, I should be free!

I closed my eyes. Couldn't cry. Couldn't give in.

_Do you guess the truth?_ a harsh voice in my mind chuckled.

My eyes snapped open.

_Do you even begin to remember, Xairr?_ It laughed. _Of course not. You never will, are you aware of that?_

"Who are you?" I half-whispered.

_Do you guess_?

No. I didn't. I had no clue who this strange voice belonged to.

I wasn't about to say that.

But it must have known, because it laughed again.

_Do you guess?_

"What are you?" I roared, angry now. No one laughs at me.

I felt something within me stir at the creature's voice.

_You don't need to know._

"Yes, I do, you're apparently in my head, GET OUT!" I half_screamed. "GET OUT!"

_It seems the Xairr just.. isn't quite **herself** today._

I wanted to scream. I already had, in fact. I couldn't take this. I couldn't...

"You're the one who erased my memories, whatever you are," I said flatly.

_Is that a problem_?

"What do you think?" I said silkily, regaining control. "Whatever you are...I've dealt with you before, obviously. And I am still alive."

_Alive, yes, but your entire memory is beyond your grasp. Out of reach. And just how do you think you'll survive this?_

_I'll find a way,_ I swore silently. _I'll find a way._

**

* * *

Chapter Eleven – Phillip

* * *

**

From the moment I stepped up to the door, I knew something was wrong.

I paused without opening it and listened to the barely audible voices.

"Where is he?"

I recognized my mother's voice, quickly answered by my father's.

"Soon. Hopefully. Visser Three doesn't like to be kept waiting."

I turned and leaned against the door, trying to collect my thoughts.

So they'd gotten my family.

My eyes opened wide. If they'd gotten my family, they would have taken Cat's as well.

Had Cat been captured?

[Phillip?]

I almost collapsed from relief as I saw the sleek falcon in the air above me.

[Don't go in. In case you haven't noticed, the Yeerks are tracking us down.]

I nodded and began to morph.

It only took a moment for the changes to complete themselves. I rose into the sky and began to yell.

[The filthy scum! How far are they going to go?! How long until –]

[I found out what happened to our memories. I think.]

[What?] I said almost listlessly. I'd failed to protect my family. I'd failed in my own responsibility. I'd known what was going on – I should have found a way to tell them...

[This...creature...erased them. I had a flash – something like a snake –]

FLASH!

_[ACapir.] A flat voice, barely graced with a note of triumph, almost spat the word._

"Aximili," a Xaralite creature replied. His voice held only resentment.

Was it a Xaralite? Why did I think it was not?

[I wonder who will win this fight.]

"Not you."

The Xaralite suddenly released a blast of power.

It flew towards me but stopped in midair, ricocheting off a...

Force field!

A huge snake stared down at me, angry. Was the Xaralite one of her minions?

FLASH!

[Thchi!] I said suddenly. [Its name was Thchi.]

She nodded as well as she could in falcon form. [I think so.]

[What were we?] I said, struggling to think. [You were...what? A Xaralite?]

[Yes.] She laughed ironically. [And I suppose you know your form?]

[Andalite.]

My voice rang flat.

[How very...interesting. Andalites are, as I recall, the worst enemies of the Xaralites.]

_Shouldn't it stay that way?_

[Thchi!]

_Of course! Delighted to see that you **remember** me._

[Oh, yes,] Cat seethed. [I remember you.]

I sent her a private message. [Are all your memories intact now?]

[Yes. Unfortunately.]

I was startled at her choice of words, but the snake left me no time to say so.

_So you, Xilite, remember your **responsibility**? Your people?_

She stressed her next words. _Your failure?_

[Yes. I do.]

[Xilite, what is she talking about?]

She didn't answer.

[What happened to the people whose forms we now inhabit?] I demanded of Thchi.

[Their minds are in bio-stasis. And as soon as you leave their bodies to resume your own forms, they'll return.] She laughed. [Return to be infested by their own families.]

[That won't be a problem,] Cat said flatly. [At least not for whatever-her-name-is. I'm not going back.]

I felt rather than saw the snake smile. Apparently that was the reaction she wanted.

I felt her leave.

[Cat, what are you _talking_ about?] I demanded. [We have to.]

[Maybe you do. Not me. Not ever!] she yelled. [Go back to the Animorphs. I...Thchi will have restored their memories by now. They'll remember you. The six of you can figure out how to get Fenestre's box back.]

She swept down to the ground and began to demorph. So did I.

"Cat, what do you mean, you're not going back?"

"Exactly what I said. I don't belong with them."

"And it looks like I do?" I shot back. "I'm an Andalite. They're humans. Neither of us _belongs_ with them. But both of us fight with them."

"That's the past," she said quietly. "Look, Ax, go back with them."

It took me a moment to remember that "Ax" was my name.

I nodded slowly. She'd made her choice. We'd part paths here.

I began to morph.

[I understand, Xilite,] I murmured. [Goodbye.]

She shrugged. "Goodbye. And, Ax...good luck." She allowed a tight smile. "I hope you win. All of you."

I wondered why it would be so hard for her to go back.

I turned sharply and began to gallop away.

She'd made her choice. She'd made her choice. The words beat their successive rhythm into my mind, over and over, constantly drumming...

Suddenly I stopped running.

Who...

_No one, Aximili._

That voice sounded so like mine. So like my own thoughts.

What was I doing? Oh, yes. I was supposed to meet the others. We had to get the Escafil device back.

A falcon wheeled in the air above me.

I wondered who it was.

**

* * *

Chapter Twelve – Xilite

* * *

**

So. I was Xilite.

_No!_ I screamed silently. _Not anymore! I'm a human! A HUMAN!_

Was I a coward, then? To stay here in another's body, refusing to return because...because of my past?

No. If I left this body, whatever-her-name-was was dead anyway. Or infested, at least.

And...and I'd have to face it. All of it. Face my people's fate, my father's identity, my own failure...

Have to fight my father...fight him until one force, his or mine, retreated...

Better to just stay this way. To just remain a human...a human with no place to go...

It didn't matter! Nothing mattered!

The Xaralites needed me but...but I couldn't help them. I sighed and began to plummet to the ground in a controlled fall better known as a dive. I couldn't help them now. I had failed before – twice – I'd fail again.

Ax could go back. I didn't care. My place was no longer there, not with them.

My place had never been there.

This war was pointless! What would it gain? Nothing!

Nothing!

[I quit!] I screamed to an empty forest. [I'm not Xilite! I'm not part of this! I'm not an Animorph! I'm not a Xaralite!]

The only response was a startled flock of birds flapping their way up into the air.

[I'm done with this!] I shouted after them. [Let someone else fight!]

I didn't land gracefully on the ground. I pulled my wings in and collapsed in a very un-bird like way.

[I have nothing,] I whispered.

_You're right, you have nothing left._

Thchi's voice.

The absolute last thing I needed.

Had she heard me?

[And that's why you're communicating? To inform me that I have nothing?]

_You already seem to know that. No. To offer something more._

[You sound like one of those cursed Yeerks advertising the Sharing.]

_I'm not advertising it. I'm not advertising slavery._

[That's all you seem to offer.]

_Not this time. This time, Xilite, I offer you a place in a position of power. To be my agent. To fight for me._ She paused considerably. _If you accept, I will arrange the freedom of your people._

My heart stopped.

I didn't shoot back an idle reply, like [Never,] or something along that line. I couldn't think.

I'd change sides...but my people would be free...

Free...

_It would undo your old shortcoming. You'd never fail again. I've seen your perfectionism, Xilite. You would do well to accept my help._

[How did you survive it?] I asked suddenly. [We should have killed you.]

_That foolish _A_Capir transferred his strength to me as well as you._

[He was not a fool.]

_Did you love him, then?_

[No. I care for Ax.] There was no uncertainty in my mind. I knew for sure that...it was not, and never would be, _A_Capir who I cared for.

_Strange. He doesn't seem to feel the same emotion._

[He feels that it is his duty,] I said coldly.

She laughed in my mind. _Of course. Andalite duty is always foremost in their minds. But Xilite, aside from that, think of all that you could be. Think of all that you could do._ Her voice dropped. _Think of your people._

[I refuse,] I said, demorphing.

_For now, Xilite. For now._

[I am not Xilite anymore!] I half-cried.

_You truly wish that?_

I demorphed quickly, talons becoming feet and feathers sinking back into skin.

I was human.

Not a Xaralite. Not Xilite.

I was a human.

And my name was Cat.

"Yes, Thchi," I said quietly. "I do."

**

* * *

Chapter Thirteen – Tobias

* * *

**

[Hey, Ax,] I said as he came into the barn.

[Hello, Tobias. Hello, everyone.]

"The last mission did not go well," Jake said flatly.

"An incredible understatement," Marco agreed.

"We have to go back in. We have to get that box, tear Fenestre up –"

"Rachel!" Cassie snapped. "Fenestre is just –"

"Doing what Yeerks do?" Rachel supplied with a sneer. "Not to mention, Cassie, that you wanted Jake to kill him last time."

She flushed at Rachel's harsh words.

We do have to get back in," Marco said. "Fenestre cannot be allowed to give the visser the box. If he does, we're doomed. He'll make an army of Hork-Bajir Controllers that are, as an added bonus, morph-capable."

"Paranoia to the extreme," Rachel said. "Unfortunately, it's also fact. Which is why we have to kill him before he can give it to anyone."

"All I want to know," Jake said calmly, "is who that panther was."

[Panther?] I asked. [Weren't there two...] My voice trailed off. That was crazy. There had been only one other Andalite.

Or Yeerk.

[Has it occurred to anyone else that maybe that panther was the first of several morph-capable Controllers?]

"Yeah," Marco said, nodding. I'd expected that.

[Yes,] Ax said. [The panther was most likely a human-Controller. They will, no doubt, begin by making the humans morph-capable instead of the Hork-Bajir; Hork-Bajir have enough natural weapons as it is.]

I stared intensely at Ax. Another small break in my memory. It didn't really seem like he'd been there, just like it seemed like there'd been more than one Controller/Andalite.

"Maybe it was Estrid or Gonrod," Cassie suggested.

[I doubt it,] Ax said with an unreadable expression. [They would fight in their Andalite forms. If,] he added, [Gonrod was not too much of a coward.]

"Or Estrid as well for that matter," Marco inserted. Then, before Ax could react, "How are we going to get in, anyway? We can't just barge in like we did last time. I think we've covered how much of a failure that was. We need a half-way decent strategy –"

"Like this: ambush Fenestre, kill him, go back to his new place in small morphs, get the box, and bust our ways out if anyone messes with it."

[No,] I contradicted. [It's not necessary that we kill him, Rachel.]

"He's a Yeerk! A Yeerk with a freaking voluntary host!"

"A 'freaking' voluntary _human_ host," Cassie said softly.

"Oh, get over it," she said crossly. "How are they different from Hork-Bajir? Both sentient, both –"

"They're human," Cassie said lamely.

Rachel snorted.

"As Tobias said, we don't kill Fenestre unless absolutely necessary," Jake said finally. "Everyone got that? Good."

"So what DO we do?!"

[I may have a plan,] I said quietly. [Or at least a few pieces of the puzzle to add.]

Every eye turned to me, including all four of Ax's.

[First: This may not even be about the blue box as much as it is about us. They want to trap us. We can't take crazy chances about this. Second: Fenestre may have already given the box to Visser Three so that, even if we got in, we'd find nothing.]

Silence as they thought about that.

"He's right," Marco said. "I can't believe I didn't see that, but he's right."

I shrugged as well as a bird could, a human gesture I've not completely forgotten. I had a lot of time to think, a lot of idle moments spent flying. My mind had to have some occupation.

"So you're saying it's a lost cause?" Rachel exploded. "You're saying that we just give up?!"

[No. I'm saying that we can't stake everything on finding the blue box.]

"You think we're stupid enough to do that?" Marco muttered, obviously a little ticked that I'd seen the possibilities and he hadn't.

[With you, Marco, I never know.]

He glared, but then laughed. Marco never minds a joke – even one on him – as long as it's funny. But his laughter was more tense and strained than actually an oh-that's-funny laugh.

His tough guy act, no doubt.

"We have to find the panther," Jake said. "Find it, get information from it, and quite possibly..." His voice trailed off. His face showed his unwillingness to say what all of us knew.

"Kill it?" Cassie challenged.

Marco shook his head, astounded at her apparently weak grasp of reality.

Surprisingly, it was Jake who answered, not him.

"Yes. Cassie, you know as well as I do – as well as _all_ of us do – that the life of one Controller is not enough to make us give up. And if we let it live, that's essentially what we're doing."

"Then what _are_ we fighting for?" she half-cried. "The lives of individuals? Just being able to stand and say, 'Hey, we saved Earth'? What are we –"

"We're fighting to win," Rachel said coldly. "To win and to save Earth. It isn't possible to save every individual."

"Hey," Jake interrupted. "We don't even know if the panther's an ally yet. It may not come to killing it, whatever it is."

"How did it know where to find us if it's not a Yeerk?"

He shrugged.

"Surveillance," he said after a long silence. "We have to spy out the place. Find out if Fenestre has the box, without getting killed or discovered, preferably."

"Preferably?" Marco snorted. "_Preferably_ the Yeerks would be gone. _Preferably_ we wouldn't be in this position in the first place. _Preferably_ –"

"Your point being...?" Rachel said impatiently.

I gave her a long look. Was "preferably" to her being in this war?

Or was it being a normal girl?

I looked away from her, uncertain of the answer and wanting to stay that way.

Or maybe I did know.

Maybe that was why I forced my thoughts away from the facts.

[I understand his words to mean that what is preferable is not always what seems to happen,] Ax offered. [Preferability and luck do not seem to coexist with facts, especially within the rules of this war.]

"In English, Ax." Rachel made an elaborate show of being confused at his Tolkeinite language.

[He means that we probably will be discovered. Or killed.]

Marco snorted again. "Couldn't have said it better."

**

* * *

Chapter Fourteen – Rachel

* * *

**

Apparently Marco had been wrong. Everything was going fine.

Well, at least in the entrance department.

We'd gotten in easily, in fly morph. Since then, we'd buzzed around, looking for a trace of it.

That part was not going fine.

[If Andalites are so superior,] I snipped, [why can't you track your Escafil device? This is hopeless! HOW are we going to find it?!]

[We keep looking,] Jake said patiently.

I sighed, sick of patience. We'd been looking for approximately an hour and forty-five minutes and everyone, especially Tobias, was on edge.

[How much time?] Marco pressed.

[Approximately twelve percent of our time is left.]

[Which is...]

[Fourteen point four minutes. Actually, thirteen minutes and forty-five seconds now.]

Was that one of his lame attempts at humor? Who could tell?

[I wonder if the other "morpher" is watching us,] Tobias muttered.

[Ax, tell us when it's down to six minutes,] Jake said, making one of his snap decisions. [We'll have to demorph and remorph then, no matter what.]

[Why not just do it now?] I said grumpily. [I have no intention of looking like _this_ all my life.]

[Ooh, what's the matter, Rachel?] Marco smirked. [Afraid the Gap won't have anything in your size?]

[I was more worried about The Limited,] I said drily.

[They probably won't take credit from an insect,] he taunted. [They'll probably have to call up and check –]

And that's as far as he got before I rammed him in mid-air, in no mood for humor. At least, I'd thought it was him.

[What –] Ax yelped, dodging me as I swung around for another go-round.

[Ah, sorry.] I eyed the group of flies. [Which one of you is Marco?!]

[Aahhhh! Rachel! The one and only serial killer fly!]

[Will you two cut it out?] Cassie said, annoyed. [We have enough problems, don't you think?]

[Where would they have it?] Tobias wondered.

[Well, there are two choices,] Marco said sarcastically. [On this planet, or not on this planet.]

[Helpful, Marco,] he snorted. [Real helpful.]

[Or, with the visser or not with the visser. In this mansion or not in this mansion.]

We buzzed around some more, all the while listening to Marco's babble.

[In this galaxy or not in this galaxy. In this universe or not in this universe.]

[Even if it was reduced to individual particles – specifically, atoms and molecules – it would still exist within this universe,] Ax objected.

[Oh. In one piece or not in one piece,] he corrected himself.

[This is hopeless!] I raged.

[You've already said that,] Marco snapped.

[Judging by the way you've been babbling, I wouldn't suggest telling _me_ to shut up!]

[AHHHHH!]

[Cassie!]

[Fly paper!] she moaned. [I'm stuck!]

I peered ahead, then said flatly, [There's nothing there, Cassie.]

[Most likely a modified force field,] Ax observed.

[So how do I get out of it?] she demanded. Then she screamed again.

She was slowly dropping.

[WHAT IS GOING ON?!]

I then made one of my stupider moves. I dived toward her, trying to knock her out of whatever it was that had her.

[Rachel, you idiot!]

I ignored Marco and kept going.

My body stopped less than a millimeter from hers. Now we were both stuck.

[Demorph!] Jake ordered.

A panel in the floor opened. We kept dropping.

[What if they see us?] Cassie cried.

[Then they see you,] he snapped. [You have to get out of there.]

[I'm morphing to grizzly,] I stated, quickly demorphing. Cassie did the same.

The force field apparently could not handle larger creatures. As my weight grew, the force field let me go.

[It's just for insects!] I called back up to my friends. [It can't handle larger –-]

I dropped, landing on my back. I was fully human, but was swiftly becoming more bear-like.

I looked around. I was in a cage. I sighed with relief as I noted that no one, at the moment, was guarding.

Then the alarm went off.

ScrrrrEEEEEEEEEEET! ScrrrrEEEEEEEEEEET!

[No!] I moaned. So much for getting out quickly.

Cassie dropped beside me, fully wolf. Being the fast morpher that she was, it was no surprise that she was already finished.

The last traces of human disappeared just as the Hork-Bajir arrived.

"Widen the hatch!" Fenestre yelled.

I swung my head to see him. So he was here!

Where was the box?

The hatch widened on Fenestre's command. At the same time, the cage retracted.

"Idiot!" he screamed at a Hork-Bajir. He blasted him with a Dracon beam.

The others dropped nimbly, already morphed.

[Looks like a battle,] Tobias commented, rising into the air and then coming down in a Hork-Bajir's face. He clawed at his eyes as the alien screamed.

[Excuse me?] Marco demanded shrilly as more and more poured in. Obviously, they'd been expecting us. [It doesn't look like a battle...it looks like a slaughter.]

I roared, making a few step back. But as I glared at them with my dim bear vision, it became obvious that Marco was right.

But we'd get out of it.

We always had.

**

* * *

Chapter Fifteen – Xilite

* * *

**

I stared at my homing device. So Fenestre and the blue box were both in the pool. Judging by the way I'd altered it to transmit sound as well, there was a battle.

I almost threw the transmitter to the ground. I'd reprogrammed it with _Xaralite_ intellect. But I wasn't part of that species!

_You are,_ a voice inside me whispered. _You are, Xilite._

I can't explain it, but my body began to change to Xaralite form. Another mind rose within mine.

"What on Earth __"

_I am the mind that you call Kitten._

"What?! What are you __"

Suddenly, he appeared.

The withered old man appeared in front of me. My lip curled with contempt.

"Hello, Xilite."

"Hello, Ellimist," I answered, the contempt showing in my voice. Xaralite faces flashed in front of me.

Rlin, Capir, Simmilien, Xarin...

Even my old friend Tykeln...

Gone...

Because of him! Not me! HIM!

"I have something to tell you."

"You dare even show your face?" I said, barely keeping control of my voice.

He ignored me and continued.

"There is in fact a battle. Your Aximili is there. He will die. Unless, of course, you help him."

"My Aximili?" I countered. "I don't think so. And, Ellimist, why do you care?"

"Because the humans, the Animorphs, will die as well. Without you."

"Oh. I see. So I'm expected to help you out now?" I clarified. "After what YOU DID to MY WORLD I'm supposed to join your game as your little pawn to save your warriors? Go find someone else to fight for you!"

"There is no one else. And how it would benefit me aside, I doubt you wish them all dead and this world destroyed, just because of pettishness and grudges."

"PETTISHNESS?!" I half_screamed. I took a step forward involuntarily. "PETTISHNESS?! You dare call the fact that I resent you __ to say the least __ for having my planet destroyed PETTISHNESS?! You think you can destroy my world and then expect me to save a world you want saved?!"

"Do you want it destroyed?" he repeated.

"Do it yourself, if you're so high and mighty!"

"My interference will give my enemy a chance to interfere. I doubt you would want to benefit him any more than you would me."

"Actually, yeah. I'd rather benefit Crayak. At least he's not two_faced. I know his motives, Ellimist. To destroy the entire universe, except his one little race. You, on the other hand, want your favorites protected. You're a hypocrite and a traitor, and I'd sooner aid Thchi than I would you."

"And yet, you don't answer my question. _Do_ you want them dead? _Do_ you want this world destroyed?"

"Would I listen to you even if I didn't?" I said in a tone bordering on belligerence, and far past arrogance.

"Even if? Are you saying you _do_ want them dead?"

"No doubt that's what I said."

That caught him off guard. I enjoyed the stunned look on his currently human face.

"And what did _they_ do?"

"Nothing," I shrugged. "Nothing. But, you know what, Ellimist? I'm not Xilite anymore. Not like the superhero. I know you wrecked Elfangor's life after he tried to escape" __ again, that shocked look showed __ "Yes, I know about Elfangor. I monitored him at times. I know what you did to him. But, as I have said, I'm not Xilite the superhero. I never was. I messed up. I failed. I don't want to get involved in this war again." I started to demorph.

I couldn't.

_What are you doing?!_ I screamed at the invading mind. _What are you?! What are you?!_

_You are Xilite,_ the voice said softly. _You always have been. You always will be._

"So no, Ellimist, I won't help you," I said smoothly, masking the battle in my head.

"Then help them!"

I swear I could have struck him. "No!" I yelled. "No! NO! Not to aid you! Not ever!"

I was losing it! I bit back a curse and struggled to control my emotions.

Was this what being human had done to me?

I screamed silently, in my own mind.

_Get out! Get out!_

_You are Xilite._

_GET OUT!_ I fought for control.

Slowly, my body began to change.

_No!_ it screamed. _Your people! Your future!_

_SHUT UP!_

I was now fully human, glaring at the creature who had done this to me, all of it.

"So, you want to kill them? I can play just as rough, Xaralite. Your precious _people_ won't get off unscathed!"

"How dare you!" I roared, infuriated. "How dare you even begin to threaten them! What more can you DO?! They're captured, you idiot! What more can you do to them?!?"

He smirked. "Do you really want me to answer that question?"

"Yes," I hissed, drawing myself up to my full height. "You'd better believe it. I do."

"Tell me. Or you know what? I'll go down there and kill all six of them personally."

My own words shocked me. _I wouldn't do that, would I?_ I thought uneasily. I shook my head. _Of course not._

"What, exactly, do you think would happen if the Yeerks were to attack while they're still in those tubes, Xaralite?" He smirked. "Think about it."

And then, he was gone.

I shouted at the sky.

"Don't you dare!" I screamed blindly. "If you touch them I swear I'll kill you! I swear it! I'll KILL YOU!"

I fell to the ground, shocked at my behavior. _Was that _me?

I wondered.

I'd never lost control like that. Not ever.

I'd never felt a hate raging like that.

_No,_ I pleaded silently, not even knowing who I was talking to. _No._

"They can resist!" I kept shouting. "WE CAN RESIST!"

NOT ANYMORE, XILITE.

"WHAT?!"

THEIR LONG IMPRISONMENT HAS WEAKENED THEM TOO FAR.

"You lie," I whispered, feeling weak.

NO.

That one word was more frightening to me than any of the times I'd faced death in combat.

_No, no, no.._

I stood up.

He told the truth.

I felt his presence evaporate. Good. So he no longer watched me.

"You need me," I whispered, staring at where Xarila would be. Would have been.

If it wasn't a dead planet now.

"You need me, don't you."

_Yes. They do. And so do the Animorphs, now._

I felt myself change again. Only this time, I willed it.

I stared at the homing device and turned the sound on.

"We have them!" a voice shouted.

I closed my eyes for one more second. Just one more second of hesitation...

Then I nodded quickly. "I'm coming," I murmured to no one.

And then I repeated it.

This time for everyone.

"I'm coming..."

**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen – Xilite

* * *

**

I began to run towards the exit. They needed me.

I didn't want to morph. Not this time. It would be one of my first battles on Earth as a Xaralite -- not the first, but one of them.

And I would be Xilite.

Just this once.

"Not for you, Ellimist," I called out, knowing that he would hear me. "Not for you. Earth can be destroyed for all I care" (even I felt the lies in those words) "but not the Animorphs. And not my people."

He didn't answer. Someone else did.

*And not the Andalite, either?*

"You lost your fight, Thchi," I said calmly. "Accept it. I am not your warrior. I never will be."

Or so I thought at the time...

*Are you so certain of that?*

"Thchi, what do you want?" I said in a tired voice.

*Merely to give you a bit of advice.*

"Advice? From you?!" I barked out a laugh. "What advice could you, _snake,_ possibly give me?"

*Another Andalite-Controller will appear,* she said insinuatingly. *If you save the _aristh,_ she will die. You don't want that.*

"Right. Like you know the future."

*Her plan is already in motion. It's not psychic prediction. It's logic.*

"Who is she?" I demanded.

No answer, only laughter.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" I screamed angrily.

*You'll see.* And then she laughed.

I hesitated for just an instant, then took off running for the entrance.

Thchi was nothing but a fool. Nothing but a fool if she thought I'd believe her.

*Do as you wish,* Thchi said as she saw me running. *I will restore their memories of you. But not their memories of _me._ You alone shall bear that burden, Xaralite. Like so many. How many lives have you lived that no one remembers?*

*Your life as a Xaralite,* she continued. *Your life as a human, at the beginning. Your life as __*

"They're my burdens, as you have said," I growled. "Stay out of it, Yeerk."

There was a stunned silence.

*How do you know about that?* she said finally.

"You thought I wouldn't see? When you tried to drain my memories, you thought I wouldn't see yours?"

She was shocked. Even I could feel that.

"So let me live my life," I told her. "Let me live it _alone._ This is my choice. My life never was, and never will be, your choice. You couldn't kill me when I was young; you can't stop me now."

I felt her presence evaporate. Just as the Ellimist's had.

The scene was one of carnage. Hork_Bajir lay, dead. Once again I marveled at the Animorphs' ability to stay alive.

But it looked like their ability was a bit overdrawn. They were backed into the corner, a swarm of Hork_Bajir and Taxxons surrounding them. Only Rachel's roars and Ax's tail blade kept them back for the precious seconds they had now.

[Xaralite!]

I closed my eyes in pain as I heard my father's voice. I turned slowly to face him.

"Hello, Father," I whispered, knowing he could not hear me, thankful that the Animorphs could not.

[Xilite?] Rachel demanded. [What the...]

I realized that there would be blank patches in all of their memories. I wondered how far back they were erased.

Would Ax remember our lives as humans?

[Give it up, Xaralite. You and your Andalite friends are trapped.]

"I don't seem trapped," I said in a voice choked by emotion. So there he was...the father I'd waited all my life to see...

I forced the tears back and held his Andalite glare.

*Is it harder than you thought it would be?* Thchi asked sweetly.

[Xilite,] Jake snapped. [If you threaten him, the Hork-Bajir will freeze. We need to get out of here. Do it!]

_No!_ I wailed silently. _He's my father! My father!_

[You will be,] the visser said in response to my comment. [Soon enough. Hork-Bajir!]

"No," I half-whimpered as they rushed at me.

[Xilite! What are you DOING?!] Marco roared, seeing my trapped expression.

_My own father ordered my death! Do you have any clue what that's like, Marco? Not even you do! Your mother is a host! Mine is a Yeerk!_

[Do it NOW!] Jake shouted.

[I don't take orders from you!] I shouted back in thought-speak, even as Hork-Bajir raced at me. I ducked and spun to the left, sending a herd of them flying past.

[What is wrong?] Ax asked in private thought-speak. Of course, he'd know something was.

I didn't answer.

"Visser, let us go," I ordered. "Let us leave peacefully and we will kill no more of your troops."

[Why would I do that?] he said with a chilling laugh. [No, I'm looking forward to infesting them, and torturing you.]

I was close enough now, from all my dodging, for him only to hear my next statement.

I looked him in the main eyes and asked the question that he'd hear repeated in his dreams.

"You'd torture your own daughter?"

A shudder raced through his body. But he returned my gaze.

[You're no kin to me, Xaralite.]

_You'll pay, Thchi!_ I yelled silently. _For what you've done to me, you'll pay!_

[What?] about six thought-speak voices demanded in my head. They hadn't heard my statement, but they'd heard his.

[Just a tactical move to get out,] I said, improvising. [Go! They're distracted!]

They bought it. All of them.

In a second, the Hork-Bajir (still staring at me, of course) were falling like stones. The shocked visser screamed in rage.

[Get them, fools!] he yelled. [GET THEM!]

Jake knocked him to the ground and growled.

Time slowed.

_Don't kill him,_ I begged silently. _No. Not until he knows who I am...there's still a chance that he could recognize me..._

Even I recognized the foolish naivete in my words, silent as they were. I stayed still.

And the visser let us go.

My father let us go.

* * *

[There are still several inconsistencies in my memory,] Ax told me later, after the battle. [I do not remember much of it. But I remember being human.]

"Yeah. So do I."

[What made you change your mind? What made you come?]

"I had to. It is, as Andalites would say, a duty."

His main eyes stared at me. [You seemed very opposed before.]

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, more harshly than I'd intended. "I'm...sorry."

I don't think he understood, but he did drop the subject.

[Xilite...I...] He seemed very uncomfortable suddenly. He shifted his weight.

"What?"

[I would appreciate it if you did not...mention my...captivity...to the others. I would not want them to know.]

I nodded, then turned to face him. "They would not have gotten you if you had been in possession of your memory," I stated with certainty. "It was not your fault, Ax."

[It was.]

I knew he thought that and there was nothing that I could do to change it, so I shrugged.

[I will see you later. Tobias and I are going to the Cinnabon.]

I laughed quietly, pitying Tobias and the managers and everyone else in the food court. But at the same time, as soon as he was gone, I felt lonely.

I stared up at the stars.

Somewhere...

"I'm coming," I whispered. "My people, I'm coming. To my father..." I steeled myself, my own words stinging. "We will end this somewhere. You cannot succeed, Father. Not in this war."

I swear I heard his voice, once again. The voice that had repeated in my mind since I was a child. The only words I remembered before he was gone.

"Better a death in honor than a life in slavery..."

His voice was so different, in that echo. Not the snarling, angry voice I'd heard at the pool.

"Has your opinion changed?" I murmured, looking away from the stars and back into the forest. "Has it changed yet, Father?"


End file.
